Rihanna and Ed Sheeran Were the Most-Streamed Artists on Spotify in 2017

Spotify never lies. Based on the visceral Twitter reaction to his Game of Thrones cameo, it would appear that a lot of people really don't like Ed Sheeran. But on Tuesday, Spotify released its annual top-streamed lists, and it looks like people not only really like Ed Sheeran, but would rather listen to him over anyone else. Except, of course, Rihanna.

According to the streaming service, the red-headed English bard was the most popular male artist and artist in general, while his song "Shape of You" and his album Divide topped their most-streamed lists as well, respectively. Meanwhile, Rihanna was the most-streamed female artist for the third year in a row, an incredibly impressive feat considering she did not release an album this year. Just more evidence that Rihanna owned the year even without much new material.

After Sheeran, Drake, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, and Daddy Yankee were the most-streamed male artists, while Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, and Sia followed Rihanna's lead. The most-streamed artists overall looked almost identical to the most-streamed male artists list, but with Daddy Yankee swapped out for The Chainsmokers. So did the most-streamed albums, which featured More Life by Drake, DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar, Starboy by The Weeknd, and Stoney by Post Malone after Sheeran's Divide.

The year-end lists also revealed this fun fact about the tastes of the music-streaming population: To soundtrack this hellscape of a year, a lot of people turned to not just one, but two varieties of black metal. Melodic Power Metal and Chaotic Black Metal were the top two most emerging genres. Happy 2017, all.